India

Sacrifices Stop After 75% of Village Watch the JESUS Film

Jennifer Abegg

Photo by Ted Wilcox

Four hundred goats were slaughtered in front of a village idol in northeast India. The Hindu priest, Madhur (not his real name), and his villagers hoped that the animals' shed blood would keep them from the wrath of Kali -- believed to be an incarnation of the Hindu goddess of war -- and pay the penalty for their wrongdoings.

Five months after this annual ritual, Christians visited their village. Toting a film projector, speakers and a white screen with poles, they showed the JESUS film, the story of Jesus' life, taken directly from the Gospel of Luke.

A crowd of 3,000 people (75 percent of the village) gathered to watch the true story about the one real God. The people -- including some high -- caste Hindus-stared as Jesus shed His own blood on the cross for the forgiveness of sin.

That night Madhur surrendered his life to Christ and quit his old profession. As the only priest in the village, the animal sacrifices stopped.

He told the villagers that worshipping idols was wrong and that he had spent 46 years of his life teaching falsehood. "I had sacrificed more than 3,700 goats," he explained, "and their blood couldn't wash my sins away; only the blood of Jesus can."

Madhur vowed to proclaim Jesus for the rest of his life. He now leads a Bible study, and the 47 villagers who regularly attend got baptized.